Hat Day!!!



So teaching myself how to shoot in manual mode is not going so well.  I don't know why I can't get it.  Maybe I give up too quickly.  It can't be that hard.  I thought I had the camera all set to go this morning to get the shots of the kids in their hats for hat day.  When I took Hailey outside and did a test shot, this is what I got...

 

Not good.  After a bit of adjusting (I don't know what I am doing - basically just changing the shutter speed) I got this shot.  Better.  The focus is all right and seems fairly sharp, but the color is atrocious. 

After hanging out for a few minutes with my best friend Photoshop.  I turned it into this.   Acceptable, but I don't like to have to do that much work in PS for a snapshot.   Basically all my photos from this morning have been Photoshopped to a shell of their former self.  I am not proud, but still determined to learn.

Hailey in her stylin' hat.  She fought with me tooth and nail this morning that she didn't want to wear that pink sweater.  She was thanking me when we got outside and she saw for herself how chilly it really was.

Captain Evan sporting his hat we picked up after the Munising Shipwreck tour.  Fun memories, fun hat.  The boys at the bus stop who were all sporting their super creative (not) baseball hats thought he was the bomb dot com.

 

Spencer opted for his Mickey Mouse ears  hat.  Then after I took his picture changed his mind and decided he wanted to borrow Evan's hat.  After getting Evan's permission that he could wear it, we took another photo and he promptly shoved the hat into his back pack and told me he would put it on at school.

 

He didn't say anything, but my gut tells me that he is getting to that age where he wants to make sure that his friends have hats on and he is not the only one.  That kind of makes me sad.  I know it is all part of growing up, but I really want my kids to hold on to their own individual, quirky selves.  Even if it is hard.  Even if they are deemed "not cool".  I want them to stand out from the crowd and show the world how amazing they really are.